Chemically Ripened Fruit 1927

CHEMICALLY RIPENED FRUIT

TO DYE GREEN FRUIT is illegal, but it may be “chemically ripened,” it would appear, by the use of certain gases, as reported editorially in The Journal of the American Medical Association (Chicago). We read:

“The rapid ripening of fruits by gases of incomplete combustion has been known for ages; long ago the Chinese used incense fumes to ripen pears. To-day, the problem of ripening the fruit after it has been removed from the plant in a yet immature state is of greater commercial importance than ever in the history of the world.Â Â Oranges, tomatoes, pineapples, green beans, peas and celery can now be obtained on the market practically the year round. To avoid decay, it is the practise to pick the fruits and vegetables while still green. Even then, it is not uncommon for half a carload of tomatoes to be spoiled by heat treatment. Furthermore, the fruits and vegetables suffer loss in sweetness, juiciness and flavor. Of particular moment from the marketing standpoint is the appearance of the product. One needs only to consult the Notices of Judgment of the Food and Drugs Act to be reminded how often the offense has been committed of artificially dyeing oranges. Now, it seems, this method of deception is to go into the discard. Ethylene, with its unusual history, is the reason.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

“The shipping of carnations by express had an unfavorable influence, the flowers ‘going to sleep’ and buds not opening; the cause was found to be the escape of the illuminant Pintsch gas, which consists largely of ethylene. Some years later these observations were the means of suggesting to Luckhardt the use of ethylene as an anesthetic. About four years ago Chase and Denny, working in the XL S. Bureau of Chemistry, reported that the color of oranges and lemons could be made ‘natural’ by exposing the immature fruits to ethylene. The coloring of oranges by this ‘legal’ method has since become a current practise. Three years ago, R. B. Harvey of the University of Minnesota Experiment Station found that larger applications of ethylene, or of propylene or acetylene, speeded up ripening in fruits and vegetables. In The Chemical Bulletin recently, Harvey states that in the treatment of celery with ethylene the sugar content increased from 20 to 30 per cent. Similar changes occur in bananas, tomatoes, and other fruits ripened with ethylene.”

Ethylene may also be used to remove the excess acidity of fruits or vegetables, to remove the green coloring matter from celery or similar plants, to increase the sugar content, or to remove tannins and other objectionable substances. Further:

“Tomatoes ripened after removal from the vine in winter are liable to be excessively acid, but if treated with ethylene they are reported to have a fine flavor, free from excess acidity. Very immature tomatoes down to an inch in diameter may be ripened in from six to eight days; more mature fruits require only from twenty-four to sixty hours, depending on the variety and degree of maturity. According to Harvey, a single dose of ethylene, about two or three cubic feet, costing less than forty cents to the carload of fruit, is sufficient to produce a remarkable change in the time necessary to ripen bananas and to change their color, flavor and texture.

“The mechanism of the reaction does not seem to be well worked out. The ethylene is reported ‘to cause a sudden jump in the respiratory rate after its application.’ The concentration of the fruit acids and tannins becomes less.

“While all this is of vast commercial importance, the health phases have not yet been thoroughly considered. Certain fruits and vegetables are recommended by physicians largely because of their vitamin content; whether or not this is altered by ethylene has not been determined. Possibly, also, the fruits and vegetables may be picked earlier than is the practise to-day, thus shortening the period of irradiation by the sun. Physicians may well watch the development of this form of food enterprise; perhaps the time may come when certain every-day foodstuffs will be purchased on the basis of vitamin units. In the meanwhile the use of vitamin-containing products in as near a ‘naturally ripened’ condition as possible should be encouraged.”

Source: The Literary Digest for October 29, 1927

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